Free Resources for Designing Your RPG Campaign
Writing your first campaign can be daunting. Not only do you need to craft a story that resonates with different types of players, but you also need to design a module that is easy to access and compelling to read. Creating maps, designing cover art, and formatting your story doesn’t have to require a team of experts. Luckily, the RPG community has created a multitude of free resources to aid in your storytelling. Here are some of my personal favorites that I’ve used for all of my modules.
The Homebrewery
If you want to make your module look like the official campaigns from Wizards of the Coast, the Homebrewery is for you. This is a browser-based tool that uses the official fonts and assets (such as stat blocks and tables) from the books, and all you need to do is plug in your own content. The Homebrewery uses markdown, which is a system of formatting plain text. Markdown has a bit of a learning curve, but the starting guide has all you need to know. Easily publish your campaign or export as a PDF to upload to DMsGuild.
RPG Card Generator
If your campaign involves unique items or spell cards, check out the RPG card generator. This generates a printable page of playing cards displaying whatever content you input. I used this to create the mask cards in my recent campaign.
Combine PDF
If you’ve created your campaign with different tools (such as the Homebrewery and RPG Card Generator) and need to merge the PDFs without using premium design software, Combine PDF makes this super easy — simply upload your two PDF files, arrange the order, and combine.
Dungeon Painter Online
You don’t have to be an expert cartographer to create cool, useful maps for your story. Dungeon Painter Online provides basic design textures — including floors, walls, and furniture — for simple maps. (If maps are really important in your module, you may consider opting for the premium Dungeon Painter Studio, which comes with more decor, textures, and editable templates.)
Pixabay
In my experience, finding free, eye-catching artwork to accompany your campaign is the hardest part of creating a new campaign. Most of us don’t have unlimited budget for art, but it can definitely enhance a module. And on DMsGuild, a cover has to be enticing to get players and DMs excited to play your story. However, it’s imperative that you’re using art that you’re allowed to use, but fret not: there are free resources for high-quality stock imagery.
A resource I’ve found useful is Pixabay, which has a category specifically for fantasy art. (This image of the frozen giant is the cover for my upcoming campaign, Sleeping Giant Mountain.) All of the images on Pixabay are free to use for personal and commercial use.
Other resources for beautiful, free images:
- Unsplash
- Pexels
- Creative commons on DeviantArt (be sure to double check that the art you find here is indeed available to use and/or repurpose.)
Designing your campaign doesn’t need to absorb all of your time or break the bank. Using these free resources, you can create beautiful modules that people will be excited to read, share, and play.
